The Best Digital Pen Recorder Smartpen for Business

Livescribe Echo Digital Voice Recorder

The Best Digital Pen Recorder Product for Business

Losing your pen in today’s world has more serious connotations than in years past; at least it does if you own a digital recorder smartpen. With the introduction of the smart pen, college students and business professionals have a simple yet powerful tool literally at their fingertips. If you have been considering one of these technological advances for use in the lecture hall or business meeting, you may be wondering which device is the best.

We have chosen the top five products in the digital recorder smart pen category which are as follows.

Dane-Electric Smartpen Product

The Dane Electric smart pen is available through a variety of retailers and is the lowest cost alternative. There are a variety of benefits with this particular digital pen recorder product including:

The digital pen recorder does not require special paper
The smartpen is similar in weight to an average pen
Software is included to convert handwritten notes to digital text
You can store your Note(s) created using the Digital Recorder Smart Pen on a flash drive

Most smart pens on the market require the use of specially designed paper, which means added expense, and yet another item to keep up with for busy individuals. Dane electronic smart pens instead rely on a receiver that is clipped onto the top of regular paper. This could be seen as a plus or a minus depending on whether you would rather continuously purchase special paper notebooks or carry this small specialty device to use when recording. The biggest difference between the Dane Electric smart pen product and all the rest is the lack of voice recording capability.

For whom would the Dane Electric be perfect? If you are a business professional who spends a good deal of time in the office, writing notes, memos and more and converting notes to digital text, but rarely travels or attends meetings or conferences, this is a great low cost digital pen product.

Logitech I02 Product

Logitech IO2 is a small step up from the Dane smart pen product. This digital pen recorder model also lacks the voice recording capabilities of many newer models, but does offer some nice functionality. A few good points:

Battery life- you will get varying opinions on this matter, some say it is too short however in real usage a Logitech I02 digital pen recorder has stood up to five hours of note taking.
User Interface -the user interface with the digital pen recorder product is very user friendly and also with the desktop support; the training is straight forward and simple to understand
Bluetooth- one of this pen product’s nicest features; makes connecting and transferring pages a breeze.

There are several good features built into the Logitech IO2 product; however there are also some inherent problems. For starters, the software has issues with Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems. Other issues:

Pen can get confused with diagrams
Handwriting Conversion Software supporting the product does not continually learn your handwriting
Low internal memory
Specialty paper required for this product (though it is fairly easy to obtain).

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Products

Livescribe Inc. is a company focused on creating pen products implementing digital pen and paper technology. This company has won numerous awards since 2007, including the Emerging Tech Award in 2008. One of the first smart pen offerings was the Pulse line now available in 2 and 4GB varieties. Features include:

Digital voice recorder products have audio recording capability
Digital sound recorder pen products can link recorded audio to written sections to synchronize recordings
Each Pulse digital smartpen has 200 hours of audio storage
Livescribe Desktop software and 500 MB Online Personal Storage comes with the purchase of each Livescribe Digital Voice Recorder Pulse Smartpen
The optional MyScribe for Livescribe handwriting software can be used with a Pulse Smart Pen to convert handwritten notes and drawings to digital text for improved note organization, search and export
Each Pulse digital pen has a USB 2.0 Connection and cable for battery charging and transfer of notes to pen owner’s computer
Many included and optional Livescribe Reference, Productivity, Utility and Educational applications extend the versatility of Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Products for use on multiple digital writing platforms, integration with Google Docs, Evernote, Microsoft One Note and social networking sites such as Facebook
The Livescribe Pulse Product requires specialty paper or paper specially produced
Each Pulse digital voice recorder comes with a 3-D recording headset (mixed reviews on this particular addition)

The Livescribe Pulse Product works really well in both of its key features, which are its audio recording feature and conversion of handwritten text to a digital text.

On the downside:

Software for conversion of handwritten text to digital text is an optional extra which works well if the handwriting is legible
Livescribe Desktop for Mac users does not support Custom Notebooks currently
Registration- some users report registration issues, which means you cannot download appropriate software
Battery- good battery life, however the battery is not replaceable. When your battery dies, you will need to buy a new pen
Repairs- If and when the pen malfunctions after the warranty period has ended, you are again going to need to replace the device; this has not been an issue for the many, many Pulse product fans!

Livescribe 2 GB Echo Smartpen Product

Echo smartpen products are the next generation products available from Livescribe and offer an updated look as well as functionality. If you have used the Pulse line of products, the first thing you will notice about the Echo product line is the updated design. Sleek and ergonomically designed, an Echo pen is definitely eye catching, but how well does a Livescribe 2 GB Echo Smartpen work?

Same audio recording and synchronization capabilities as the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Products
200 hour audio storage capability or 32,000 pages of notes
The optional MyScribe for Livescribe handwriting software can be used with a Livescribe Echo Smart Pen to convert handwritten notes and drawings to digital text for improved note organization, search and export
One year subscription to Evernote Premium for each smartpen bought and registered by April 31, 2014
Each Echo digital recorder pen has a USB 2.0 Connection and cable for battery charging and transfer of notes to pen owner’s computer
Many included and optional Livescribe Reference, Productivity, Utility and Educational applications extend the versatility of Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Products for use on multiple digital writing platforms, and integration with Google Docs, Evernote, Microsoft One Note
500 MB Livescribe Desktop Storage and Livescribe Desktop software for organizing, managing, accessing and replay notes
Advanced social networking features
Support of multiple digital writing platforms
One year subcription to Evernote Premium for each smartpen bought and registered by April 31, 2014
70,000 word dictionary software included
8 hour battery life, more than a day’s support
3.5 audio jack; more powerful than 2.5 mm Pulse audio jack; supports standard binaural stereo speakers (including IPod earbuds) and optional Livescribe binaural stereo ear buds
Like the Pulse Smartpen Products, Specialty paper required

Overall, this Echo digital recorder smartpen receives many very good reviews. The digital voice recorder pen’s main function is capturing every word of a lecture, presentation, conversation or review as well as your notes and drawings and synchronizing the recordings on the pen. The smartpen translates your notes to computer for further editing, setup for searching, retrieval sharing etc.

The audio recording works quite very well also, with a few caveats. You will notice paper noise in the audio recordings; this is where the pen is “scratching” across the paper. Some customersis have reported problems with software, particularly Livescribe Connect, which is reported to be prone to crashing.

Livescribe 4 GB Echo Smartpen Product

The Livescribe Echo 4 GB Echo Smartpen Product was announced in 2010 with the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Product and targeted for college students and business professionals. The Livescribe 2 GB Echo Smartpen was announced in mid-2011 upgrade to the Pulse Product line and targeted to students, parents and educators.

All of the basic functionality and features of the Livescribe products are shared across product releases. The difference in Livescribe Smartpen products is mainly the size of digital smartpen storage. But in comparison to other releases, you will enjoy a few bonuses with a Livescribe 4 GB model smartpen:

Same audio recording and synchronization capabilities as the Livescribe Pulse and 2 GB Echo Smartpen Products
400 hour audio storage capability(depending on quality setting) or 64,000 pages of notes
The optional MyScribe for Livescribe handwriting software can be used with a Livescribe Echo Smart Pen to convert handwritten notes and drawings to digital text for improved note organization, search and export
One year subscription to Evernote Premium for each smartpen bought and registered by April 31, 2014
Each Echo digital recorder pen has a USB 2.0 Connection and cable for battery charging and transfer of notes to pen owner’s computer
Many included and optional Livescribe Reference, Productivity, Utility and Educational applications extend the versatility of Livescribe Echo Smartpen Products for use on multiple digital writing platforms, and integration with Google Docs, Evernote, Microsoft One Note
500 MB Livescribe Desktop Storage and Livescribe Desktop software included with each Echo smartpen for ease in organizing, managing, accessing and replay notes
Advanced social networking features
400 hours of audio storage (depending on quality setting)
Support of multiple digital writing platforms
Better audio recording capability than earlier Pulse model
Livescribe Connect Premium supports social networking including email
Rubberized grip and more ergonomic design

Wrap Up

There are several different digital recorder smartpen varieties on the market today and as you can see they will vary on functionality, design and price point. A couple very important notes about the Livescribe lines of digital recorder pen products:

Only one product comes with the handwriting conversion software bundled and that is the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Bundle, the Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen Pro Pack. For all other Livescribe Echo Products this software is an optional purchase offered by Vision Objects through a Livescribe link.
Of the five products selected, only the Livescribe Pulse and Echo Digital Voice Recorder Products have the capabilities to record audio. These pen products feature the ability to capture every word you hear, write or draw and itegrate the recordings.

If you are looking for the best Digital Pen Recorder Smartpen for business, the Echo 4 GB or 8 GB Digital Voice Recorder Smartpens are your best bet. More storage, far better recording, far better integration with digital writing platforms and software, better computer support and more ergonomic design make these digital voice recorder products perfect for the business person on the go.

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